by Kirby Lindsay Laney, posted 4 September 2015
On Friday, September 11th, Lowland Hum, the musical duo of Daniel & Lauren Goans, will play their first concert at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center. “A break from the hectic,” is how Daniel described the concert, “We hope to offer a night where everyone can be in the present.”
The music of Lowland Hum can be heard on their recorded albums, including their latest, self-titled LP, as well as on-line (Earmilk, Pop Matters, Nerdist, TeamCoco.com and NPR Music.) But, the concert at the Abbey is a chance to hear, and engage, the musicians in person. “Recorded music is fixed in a moment,” Daniel explained, “We view our concerts as a collaboration with everyone who attends, as something that cannot be recreated. Everyone brings something.”
Lauren also observed about their concerts, “It’s a safe place to ask questions and make connections.” Lowland Hum will hand out lyric books, illuminated, illustrated and hand-bound by Lauren, to allow audience members to connect more deeply with the music – and to allow Lowland Hum to connect with the people.
‘Not Like Anywhere Else’
“Musicians joined us on the last tour, earlier this year,” Lauren explained, about friends who played bass and drum on a shorter East Coast tour, so they could perform their songs the way they were recorded on their albums. Yet, when they set off, on August 20th, from their native North Carolina, for this extended U.S. tour (which includes Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Missouri, etc.) they’ve only had each other.
In preparation, Daniel and Lauren re-arranged the songs, being thoughtful about the meaning and the purpose of each song chosen, “trying to get the songs to a place we are proud of as a duo,” Daniel said, “We are more excited than we’ve ever been to go on a tour.”
Shortly after they were married, in 2012, the duo set out on their first tour for their first album, ‘Native Air,’ spending that first year of marriage on the road. “A tour feels like living a year or two of life,” Daniel observed, even in a five-week tour, “there is so much change and newness. You have to open yourself up and process what you can.”
Many cities they will visit are ones they’ve been to before, including Seattle, but not necessarily the venues. They’ve done four different house concerts in Seattle, previously, but they’ve never before played at Fremont Abbey. The Goans are very excited about their return to the Pacific Northwest. “There is a kind of listening in Seattle,” Daniel said, “and a type of green, that inspires us. The proximity to water and mountains, it’s not like anywhere else.”
‘A Moment-By-Moment Thing’
Touring, and performing, is still relatively new to Lauren, who became a professional musician about the same time she married Daniel. “I wasn’t doing music,” she said about her life before Daniel, “I did chorus in high school.” She liked to sing, but she worked as a graphic designer and she planned a life in more visual fields.
Then, “we met through mutual friends,” Lauren explained, “at a party.” Lauren remembers singing to the background music, and she swears that Daniel gave her compliments about her voice and how beautiful it was. They both agree that he would, then and later, invite her to sing with him, and write songs with him.
Daniel doesn’t remember giving Lauren the compliments at that first meeting, but he does acknowledge that, “even early in our relationship I noticed Lauren saying things that made me think she could be a songwriter.” As he observed recently, “she has a beautiful voice. What she adds to my songs has been invaluable,” in ways she’s contributed to the writing – writing and collaborating – as well as with the sound.
According to Daniel, he never ‘planned’ to marry his singing partner, to tour the world, and to share the music, and the woman, he loves with audiences. “Like falling in love,” he explained, “it’s been a moment-by-moment thing,” where the two found their paths naturally merging in music.
Lowland Hum is described as Indie Folk, with sincere lyrics, sparse arrangements and haunting harmonies. Daniel describes his music as, “much closer to Americana,” and he credits past story tellers and folk singers Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan with being influences. For Lauren, Ella Fitzgerald and Joni Mitchell have made an imprint. “The melody,” she said, “I enjoy writing the melodies. That choral background,” she joked, “is hard to get out of me.” Her visual background, according to Daniel, has influenced the descriptive lyrics.
‘Enjoy What We Are Doing’
This Lowland Hum tour will take the duo to a wide variety of places, and people, and the couple welcomes this chance to mix with a diversity of audiences. “I think the audiences have really influenced what we are doing,” Daniel said, “We have learned it is not helpful to categorize what kind of people will like what kind of song.”
“Audiences have said they enjoy what we are doing,” Lauren observed. On September 11th, Fremont audiences get a chance to hear the music, and meet the musicians, as they visit us – along with another North Carolina band, ‘The Collection.’ Kathleen Murray will also be performing at the Abbey.
Tickets to the concert can be purchased in advance through Brown Paper Tickets, for $8. Any tickets remaining will be available at the doors, starting at 7p, for $10. Come hear the music of these two creative people, merging their lives and sharing their love, with a collaborative evening of music.
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